Organizations and Markets has a brief bibliography of the evolution of accounting by the distinguished libertarian economic historian, Sudha Shenoy. Accounting emerged without state intervention as a type of Hayekian spontaneous order:

“Someone asked whether accounting conventions can be interpreted as a kind of “spontaneous order,” in Hayek’s sense, or if the standard rules are the result mainly of state intervention. Sudha replied with these reading suggestions (lightly edited by me):

“Accounting began in Mesopotamia: (a) Denise Schmandt-Besserat, Before Writing (1992), vol 1, From counting to cuneiform. Clay tokens recorded loans/transfers of sheep; stocks of goods (eg baskets of grain, jars of oil, types of cloth, garments, wool, beer, perfumes, etc.). Clay tablets then recorded payments in kind; agricultural & house leases; etc. (b) Mercantile accounts: Opening stocks valued in silver; also disbursements; closing balances in silver values: J B Curtis & W W Hallo, ‘Money & merchants in Ur III’, Hebrew Union College Annual 1959.

R H Parker & B S Yamey, eds, Accounting History: Some British Contributions (1994) has (inter alia) articles on: Roman Egypt; 14th century monastic estates in England & their estimates of profit; 17th century farm accounts (already very professional); the 19th century shipping industry & the problems of ‘fixed’ capital. Also on English railways; the textile industry in early 19th century Yorkshire; & much more, including Japan.

More on monastic profit calculations in 14th century England: E L Stone, ‘Profit & loss accountancy…’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 12 (1962.)

North Italian merchants (very important) in the 14th & 16th centuries: two articles (very good) reprinted in Raymond de Roover, Business, Banking, & Economic Thought (1976.)

Cost accounting in 17th century England: R Edwards et al, ‘Cost accounting at Keswick…’, Accounting Historians Jnl, 17 (1990). In the 18th century: Neil McKendrick, ‘Josiah Wedgwood & cost accounting…’, Econ Hist Rev 23 (1970) — extraordinarily detailed calculations (eg cost per yard of painting different types of decoration on vases.)

A study of the evolution of profit calculations: G A Lee, ‘The concept of profit in British accounting’, Bus. Hist. Rev. 49 (1975.)

Finally, A C Littleton & B S Yamey, eds, Studies in the History of Accounting (1956) reprint (inter alia) articles on: early railway accounting (hair-raising) until they discovered that ‘fixed’ assets had to be replaced; accounting in colonial America; & on British accounting 1840-1900: which shows that accounting evolved through practice & under common law: the latter too evolved as cases came to court. There was virtually no legislation.”